The way we think on a daily basis ultimately determines personal success or failure. When we cultivate positive thoughts we have a tendency to behave in a positive manner but if our thoughts are negative then our behaviour will be negative. This is a fact and must be accepted as such whether you want to believe it or not.

Many people wake up in the morning and think “Oh no, not another day at the grind shop” while others wake up, full of energy and excitement at what can be accomplished today. Who do you think will have the better day?

Many people have found that, when they tune in to their internal dialogue, much of it is negative. Thoughts like, “I could never do that” and “What if I fail? or even “What if I succeed?” can seriously impact the way you behave. This, in turn, affects every aspect of your life.

Develop your positive attitude!

Listen to your internal dialogue and change every negative thought that comes into your head to a positive one. Re-word each thought as a positive one. For example if you think “I’ll never get this finished by the end of the day!” could become, “I can get most of this finished by the end of the day.”

Failure comes as a result of self inflicted obstacles and barriers. We create our own failure syndrome by failing to cultivate self belief. You can succeed irrespective of the obstacles place before us in life and in a business environment.

It’s all about letting go of the “emotional baggage” that holds us back. All that you require is already within you, so do not give your power away by blindly following others. Rather, trust in the goodness that already resides within you. Believe in your own abilities and dwell on the positive aspects of your life. Put the negatives of the past behind by asking what you have learned from the experience. If the lesson gives you some positive reinforcement then retain it if not cast it aside and let go of it altogether. “There is no point in living in the past”

Decide that every day will be a positive day!

The critic within is the internal voice of negative judgmental self talk. It is the nagging feeling, the inner voice that makes us critical of ourselves and others. This ability to think negatively was developed in early childhood and is based on childhood rules and standards we internalised about how we were supposed to think, feel and behave.

For many years we were “Subject to the Negative Influences of Other People”. These are referred to as the SNIOPS.

We learned to be critical of ourselves. We learned to fear and to be afraid. When we were told not to do something we didn’t do it. We learned to be critical of others when they did not conform to what we wanted or expected.

The critic within is continually judging what we can and cannot do. The inner critic is ready at all times to tell us how insignificant, inadequate, useless and incapable we are. It is the voice that causes self-doubt and negativity.

When we love and accept ourselves for who and what we are we see others in our lives as mentors on the road to our personal success. We listen and we learn from others. Suddenly we realise we are all working towards a common goal of success.

Failure is in the mind. If you believe you cannot do something then you never will.

About Des Squire

I specialise in Employment Equity and Skills Development issues.
Qualified facilitator, assessor, moderator, verifier and SDF. Available for any related assignments and or freelance work.
If ou have a need let's meet to discuss. Quotes for training on request.

One thought on “Success comes from saying “I Can””

Excellent article, Des. I totally agree – what we think decides what we feel and then do . . . most people have a fundamental problem with positive thinking methods though, because they at a deep level don’t really believe in the positive affirmations etc that they try out, and they don’t stick with it for long enough (auto-suggestion takes about 30-days of repeating to work, if i remember correctly) . . . reprogramming the brain takes time and commitment – but watching the thinker and zapping negative thinking does work eventually, if you can stick with it. There is also quite an interesting methodology used by CCI – Consciousness Coaching – using coaching and action to bypass thoughts and feelings. Worth a look.